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Alan Ball signed with Jaguars for a chance to be a starter

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com Jaguars cornerback Alan Ball tries to cover receiver Cecil Shorts III during the first day of minicamp on Tuesday. Ball is expected to be a key player on the Jaguars' defense this season.

Jaguars cornerback Alan Ball is used to traveling the long, hard road.

Even though he was a four-year starter at Illinois, he wasn’t invited to the scouting combine and lasted until the seventh round of the 2007 draft before the Dallas Cowboys took him.

“I had to fight since day one. It’s never been an easy ride to me,” he said. “As a seventh-round pick, you’re always looked as an underdog.”

He spent five years with the Cowboys and last year with Houston, mostly as a special teams player and backup. He’s started 22 games in six years, 16 of them in 2010 when he played safety, and has just three interceptions.

Since Derek Cox, Aaron Ross and Rashean Mathis departed, the Jaguars needed to get cornerbacks in the offseason. That’s one of the reasons Ball decided to leave a Super Bowl contender in Houston and sign with the Jaguars.

He wanted a chance to start, and he’s been working with the first unit all through the offseason.

“We’re lucky to have him,” defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker said.

“I just wanted an opportunity,” Ball said. “There’s a new system being built, and I think it’s going to be special. I want to be a part of it. I had an opportunity to go back to Houston and be a teams player and a backup role or I could come here and have a chance to compete for something more than I was in Houston. I wanted to see where I could go.”

And with his long arms, the 6-2, 197-pound Ball is a good fit for the press coverage the Jaguars like their corners to play.

“This system probably fits his skill set a little better than some of the other systems he’s been in,” safety Dwight Lowery said. “He can still grow as a corner. It’s a perfect system for him.”

Ball has already met his first challenge.

“I’ll tell you what happened with Ball. I think he felt real comfortable with the situation [as a starter] and then he was good, but he kind of leveled off a little bit,” coach Gus Bradley said,

When the Jaguars had a week off last month, Bradley said they challenged him to take the next step.

“We challenged him, and he said okay. Now that you have a feel for what we expect, it’s no longer the learning curve out there at corner. That’s not a difficult learning position. It’s a difficult execution position, so now we’re really challenging him,” Bradley said.

Ball took the challenge in the right way.

“Everybody needs a push,” he said. “You’re never at the top of your game. You can always get better. You’ve just got to learn to appreciate and accept coaching.

“When you feel that push you want to push back a little bit,” Ball added. “When you feel somebody is on you a little bit and they challenge you, you want to step up to the plate. I took it as something about my game I needed to fix. That’s one thing I admire about the coaches. No matter who you are, they’re going to challenge you. That’s what the players need, and I respect that.”

Ball stepped up his game and got play of the day honors last Friday when he made an interception.

“I think he’s going to improve, and he really understands how we do things,” Walker said. “He’s a good guy to have in our room.”

Ball isn’t taking the starting job for granted and said his main goal is to improve and help the team.

“I’ve been in the league long enough to know that a lot of things change,” he said. “I don’t look as if anything is set in stone. We’ve got some young guys who are playing and competing and they’ve got some game. If my number is called, I’m going to do everything I can to play.”

He’s also been something of a mentor to the younger players.

“He’s been a big help mentally so far,” said rookie Dwayne Gratz, who is starting at the other corner. “I can do it physically, but I need the mindset to go out and play well. He’s very supportive, and he’s helped give me confidence.

“I don’t like people making plays on me, and he told me there are going to be plays made on you and you have to go out and have a short-term memory.”

Middle linebacker Paul Posluszny said Ball’s duels with wide receiver Cecil Shorts have been one of the highlights of the offseason drills.

“It’s a great competition and it will continue. They battle back and forth,” Posluszny said.

Ball said he is looking forward to the start of training camp when he can put the pads on to help him in press coverage when he can bang the receivers.

“I’m an aggressive player, and I definitely think I can cover and support the front seven [on run plays],” he said. “I’m excited about where we’re going.”